Young lions 'get their share'

At least eight ANC Youth League (ANCYL) leaders have been handed cushy posts on the boards of Gauteng’s beleaguered public hospitals.

A youth league leader who preferred not to be named said “comrades were encouraged to apply”, and that if they did so, the party would “lobby” for them to get the posts.

The appointments follow the scandal over ANC-connected individuals being appointed to the boards of sector education & training authorities (Setas).

Gauteng hospital board members are paid an estimated sum of R10,000 for each meeting they attend.

ActionSA MP Dr Kgosi Letlape, a former president of the South African Medical Association, slammed the appointments as the “perpetuation of corruption and cronyism”.

Undeterred, successful applicants have been celebrating on social media.

One successful candidate, Ziyanda Ncuru, a Gauteng youth league deputy secretary who is listed as a volunteer at Luthuli House, boasted: “Sana eGoli zi big days, young people zi board members. Zisikelwe iyoung lions.” (Young lions have received their share.)

Questions are being asked about whether the politically aligned individuals will actually help the hospitals, which for years have been dogged by political interference, corruption , procurement scandals and poor management.

The development will fuel suspicions that the ANC regards appointments to public positions as a way to reward loyalists.

The advert for the board nominations stipulates that applicants be professionals with expertise in legal, finance, management, governance, medicine or health-related backgrounds. In addition, successful candidates are supposed to be members of the communities served by the respective hospital, with a proven record of community development and involvement.

Other ANC appointees include: 

• Masabata Ramollo, a member of the ANC provincial executive committee (PEC).
• Jennifer Latifi, Gauteng youth league deputy chair, who has a qualification in cost and management accounting from the Vaal University of Technology;
• Thabo Matome Twayise, a member of the PEC, who was appointed to the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital and cites a “transport management” qualification; 
• Khumo Thandeka, from the Johannesburg region, is listed as a tutor;
• Vuyisile Plaatjie, a member of the PEC, has been placed at the Sterkfontein psychiatric hospital and is understood to be employed in the office of premier Panyaza Lesufi; 
• Ashley Mabasa, a PEC member;
• and Onkgopotse Thompson-Peete, Tshwane regional secretary for the ANCYL.

A senior provincial government official said the process reeked of “Nkabane 2.0”, referring to higher education minister Nobuhle Nkabane who is under fire for trying to appoint ANC cadres as chairs of Seta boards.

Although Ralehoko-Nkomo welcomed the new board members last week as an indication that “our people are ready to partner with us to improve health care”, others were less impressed. Letlape said it was crucial for the competencies of board appointments to be scrutinised.

We have got procurement challenges, outsourcing that is not necessary, crumbling infrastructure – we need to make health a national competence because it is being messed up at a provincial level

“If one party dominates the structure, there will be cronyism and perpetuation of corruption. It is worse if they do not bring the requisite experience that is necessary for proper stewardship of our health-care system.”

The Sunday Times this week established that Ralehoko-Nkomo last Friday hosted the eight PEC members appointed to hospital boards at an induction programme.

Her department received more than 1,500 applications, from which it selected 222 board members to serve on the 34 hospital boards in Gauteng. The new term of hospital boards started at the beginning of the month and runs until March 2028.

The MEC and her office had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication. Phone calls and messages sent to the new board members received no response.

However, Ralehoko-Nkomo has previously said it was a positive that there had been an “overwhelming number of applications”.

“It shows that our people are ready to partner with us to improve health care. It is a powerful sign of active citizenship and gives us hope for the future, especially as we march towards ... implementing National Health Insurance.”

The advert for board members said “hospital boards serve as a resource to the hospital management on various organisational matters, including, but not limited to, professional expertise. They play a critical role in ensuring that public hospitals remain accountable, transparent and responsive to community needs.”

It stresses the appointments are “not an employment opportunity”, but it is understood members will receive an honorarium for performing board-related functions.

Two insiders said the figure was about R10,000 per meeting.

One said the amount could go up to R14,000. A youth league PEC member who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was a good thing “young people are making it into boards”.

“It was not necessarily a provincial working committee decision, but when these posts were advertised, all our comrades were encouraged to apply,” the source said. “It’s not even just PEC members, some are from regions and even ordinary branch members made it. It was not a structured thing, but if interested, apply, then let’s lobby for you.”

However, the insider said it was not necessary for the young lions to fulfil all the criteria for the posts. “The advert wanted some professionals, and also leaders with a track record in the communities where the hospital is situated.

“You needed to meet one of the broader criteria. In a board ...you want a different set of expertise, you don’t want people who think the same, you can have someone that is rooted in the community as well as someone else with a legal background.”

The provincial health department is notoriously dysfunctional and has been plagued by controversy over nonpayment of salaries, substandard meals for patients, ghost workers, exorbitant security contracts and medical negligence.

According to the department: “With strong community representation and renewed energy, the new hospital boards are expected to help drive improvements in service delivery and strengthen the province public health-care system for all.”  

Letlape said the individuals chosen had to be “fit for purpose. We have got procurement challenges, outsourcing that is not necessary, crumbling infrastructure — we need to make health a national competence because it is being messed up at a provincial level.”